What SB 218 would do
By Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published April 3, 2008 at 8:42 p.m.
Updated April 3, 2008 at 8:42 p.m.
Federal Mineral Lease revenues are projected to double over the next 10 years, from $165 million to $332 million per year.
The money comes from royalties the state receives from the federal government for energy development on federal lands inside the state.
SB 218 simplifies how that money is distributed, and diverts more than $650 million into higher education building construction projects that would have come as a windfall to K-12 education.
It still sends more than $700 million over the next 10 years to K-12 education. But that fund is frozen at current levels for the next three years, and then is directed to increase at 4 percent per year.
The bill directs more than $1 billion over the next 10 years to communities impacted by the drilling boom. And it funnels more than $150 million to the Colorado Water Conservation Board.
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